Road Maps Outtakes
by Leelan Oleander
Summary: This is a place for outtakes from the story "Road Maps", which is a sequel to "Branded."
1. Edward Masen Sr Outtake

_**Several people mentioned they were curious about Ed Sr.'s take of the situation, what was he thinking when he did all these horrible things. Ed Sr. started to haunt me a little. I wondered myself what was thinking. So, here's Dickward Sr.'s addled views of the tragic events that irrevocably changed Edward's life.**_

_**This may seem disjointed and his viewpoints change a lot...he goes from monster to loving father, to monster in two seconds flat. It's disorganized and jumbled for a reason...I assure you it's not my vacation brain. ;)**_

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I never in a million years expected to see those eyes, that face, ever again, but when I looked up from the piano, I swear to god I'd seen a ghost.

"Edward?"

As much as I didn't want to believe it, as much as I needed it not to be him, I knew when I saw that spark of fear in those emerald-green eyes that it was him. Edward. My one and only son.

He was the spitting image of his mother; the hair, the eyes, the mouth. The only thing he got from me was his height and build.

And then he was on the floor. Just as fast as we recognized each other, even after all these years, he went down like a ton of lead.

Just like his mother.

The apple doesn't fall far from the tree.

A large burly guy shouted at him while a tall blonde one got down on one knee beside him. Someone I hadn't seen in a long time looked up at me, disbelief painted his face.

Carlisle fucking Cullen.

"Ed?" he asked, shocked.

"Carlisle, I'm just as surprised as you are. I never would have expected to bump into you here. Um, is that...is it really...?"

"Yes, it is. I think you should step back. I don't think it's a good idea for him to see you right away; he's obviously in shock.

The demon began to awaken. "This is my bar, Carlisle. I think you should step back."

Edward began to stir on the floor.

"Please, Ed. I'm not sure it would be a good idea for him to see you right now."

"Carlisle?" the big burly one said, "should we get him out here? He hasn't had that much to drink, I can't understand why he'd keel over like that. Hey, who's the piano dude?"

"Ed Masen," I said, holding out my hand.

"Hey, I'm Emmett...wait...Ed Masen...?" he looked at my pale, unconscious son, back to me, then back to Edward. "No fucking way!"

He pulled his hand out of mine and stepped back. "You...you're..."

"Edward's father," I finished.

"No. Fucking. Way."

Carlisle snapped at him. "Emmett, language. Help Jasper get Edward out of here, please get him outside. I need to talk to Ed for a minute."

The big guy shook his head sadly, then returned to Edward and the guy I presumed to be Jasper. They gently lifted my semi-conscious son, and carried him out.

Carlisle looked back at me, fury burning in his blue eyes.

"He didn't know," he said.

"He didn't know what?"

"That you were out of prison."

"You didn't tell him?"

"No."

"Why the hell not?"

"He's not your son anymore, Ed. As far as he's been concerned for the last 20 years, you didn't exist. You were just part of a recurring nightmare he had."

I could feel the hot ball of anger building up. "He doesn't know about me? What do you mean he's not my son?"

"You signed away parental rights, Ed. You may share DNA but that's it."

"How dare you, you pompous ass!" I flexed my eager fists.

"No," Carlisle seethed, "how dare you, Ed? You killed his mother in front of him. How dare you be so arrogant to think that he'd be happy to see you?"

"But he remembers me?"

"Obviously. He knows what happened, we didn't hide the essentials from him, we told him if he wanted to know more about what happened that we'd tell him. We also said we'd tell him about you, but he never asked."

"Carlisle, I've been out for two years and you didn't tell him? No wonder the kid passed out."

The good doctor sighed. "I should go check on the boys. We'd appreciate it if you didn't contact him, Ed. At least not right away."

"He's a grown man, Carlisle, let him make that decision for himself."

"We will. He knows now where to find you if he wants to."

With that, he left the building. That privileged piece of shit—he always looked down on me—him in his perfectly pressed Polo shirts and khaki pants. He and Esme were always looking down their noses at us. Sure, we didn't have a nice house, fancy clothes or cars, but we had each other.

How dare that smug prick tell me Edward wasn't my son! I raised him for the first two years of his life; I clothed and fed him. He was as much mine, if not more, than he was a Cullen.

Sure, I signed away my rights to him when I was incarcerated; what else could I do? Liz was dead and they put me away, I couldn't very well raise him from prison and I wasn't going to damn him to a life of living in the system. As much as the kid drove me nuts, it wasn't all his fault his mother pissed me off that night. He deserved better.

"Scotch, neat, please," I said, ordering a drink. My hands were shaking and I couldn't play piano in this shape.

_Elizabeth._

No, no...don't think about her, not now. Time to put it all back in the closet where it belongs.

"Hey, Piano Man, play us some Billy Joel."

I sighed and nodded as I resumed my position at the baby grand. I took a drink, stretched my fingers, and began to play. The piano was my only saving grace from the onslaught of memories, voices, and bullshit that pummeled me relentlessly.

I lay in bed after work, replaying the events of the night. Edward's eyes haunted me, probably because they weren't just his eyes, they were hers. At least this time there was some life behind them. The last time I saw her beautiful eyes they stared blankly at me, through me. Edward looked up at me, crying silently, his chubby little hands covered in blood, her blood.

Shaking my head, I hoped desperately to dislodge myself from the onslaught of memories.

Damn him...Damn the Cullens.

Could I blame Edward though? He was a baby, innocent, barely speaking. If Elizabeth hadn't been so intent on protecting the little shit, she might still be here. Everything was perfect before he was born. Liz and I lived a happy life; she kept a clean house, fed me well, and serviced me the way a good girlfriend/wife should. She knew her role and didn't question it. She loved me, she made me feel alive, she adored me...

...until she went and got knocked up. Then, all of a sudden, she stopped caring about me; it was always about the baby. '_The baby this,' 'the baby that._'

Then she started talking about leaving. LEAVING! How dare she? She was always going on and on about how I was crazy, I had problems, I drank too much, I hit her too much, I wanted sex too much...her bitching was endless.

I knew who it was behind it; it was Esme. Esme was planting evil seeds in Liz's head. I tried to keep them apart, but somehow her evil sister managed to have contact with her and poisoned our relationship.

One night in particular, Liz and I had gotten into a huge fight about her leaving if I didn't stop.

"Stop what?" I yelled.

"Stop all this bullshit! The hitting, the yelling, the drinking, the sex..."

"The sex? You love it and you know it!"

"No! No, I don't! It's not right. You're too rough. What about the baby?" she started crying.

I saw red.

"The baby? The baby? It's always about the fucking baby. What about me? What about my needs, huh? I should have made you get an abortion."

She spat in my face. "Fuck you! If you don't want the baby, then you sure as hell don't want me."

Shoving me to the side, she walked toward the stairs.

"Where are you going?" I shouted as I grabbed her arm.

"I'm leaving. Let go of me. NOW!"

The red turned darker, my vision clouded, and the next thing I know, she's laying unconscious at the bottom of the stairs.

_How the...I didn't do that. She must have slipped._ I thought as I stared down at her unmoving form.

Knowing I would get the blame, I left the house, went to the nearest payphone, and called 911, leaving an anonymous tip that there was a pregnant woman in trouble.

Then I went to the bar and had a drink, waiting for them to arrest me because I knew that once the bitch woke up, she'd blame me, and they'd believe her because they were all always against me.

Edward was born that night. The damn kid survived. It's not that I necessarily wanted it to die, I just wanted it gone. It was coming between me and my Liz.

Edward Anthony Masen Jr. was the downfall of my relationship and indirectly the reason his mother and my one true love died.

Elizabeth refused to come home after she got out of the hospital. She went to live with her bitch sister, Esme; where she and the brat stayed there for about a year. Over that time, while in jail, I managed to chill out, stop drinking, and deal with some anger management issues. Bit by bit, once I got out of jail, I convinced her to go out with me, much against Esme's wishes.

I was a true gentleman and wooed her every way possible. It was easy because I loved her with every fibre of my being. My existence served only to make her happy, to make her mine again.

It worked. Just after the brat turned one, they moved back in with me. I had hoped she'd leave him behind with the Cullens, but no; she just had to bring him along.

To be fair, the kid wasn't all bad. He really loved music; he and I would spend hours at the piano. He'd sway and dance while I played; his smile was contagious. I bought him a toy piano to play with and he loved to bang away on it. Whenever he'd see it, his eyes would light up and he'd clap excitedly. He would be a gifted musician, I could see it in him even then.

But then he'd ruin the moment and cry. In the grand scheme of things, he wasn't a chronic crier, I'd been around worse kids than Edward; however, the sound of his wailing drove me insane. I tried to hold back the anger, but he threw me over the edge one day. He'd been crying for days and Liz said that he had a fever. Fever or not, I couldn't tolerate the noise anymore, so I picked him up and shook him. Hard.

I know, I know, never shake a baby, but I did and the kid passed out. I thought I'd killed him. I gave him back to Liz and left the room, I couldn't look at his limp little body any more.

Liz came after me not long after, and man, was she pissed off! She went up one side of me and down the other. She threatened to castrate me in my sleep if I ever dared touch the kid again; told me I wasn't even to change his diaper.

Her eyes darkened before she spit at me and said that if I ever felt the need to hit him, shake him, or even yell at him again that I was to do it to her instead. She must have thought I was such a monster. I don't like hitting them, they just make me so mad that I can't control it, as soon as I see red...

So, I didn't touch the boy. Whenever he screamed to the point I couldn't take it anymore, Liz ended up bruised. I hated doing it, really, I did. I drank to bury the guilt, and when I drank, things happened. It was a neverending cycle.

I thought things were getting better until the day I realized she was secretly saving money. She was planning to leave me—I knew it then; it couldn't have been any clearer.

I took the money and got drunk. When I got home, I was horny and showed that I was sorry and how much I loved her. When I came to a couple of hours later, she was curled up in a ball crying.

Ugh! So much crying. It was really starting to get to me. Both of them were ungrateful. I worked hard to put food on the table and diapers on the kid's ass, and how do they repay me? With tears. Fucking saline.

Liz started acting strange after that; she was distant, kept herself holed away with the boy as much as she could. I thought she was plotting her escape and I was right. I came home early one night and found her dragging the boy and a suitcase down the stairs.

"Where the hell do you think you're going?" I said, calmly.

Her face paled, enhancing those green eyes of hers. She stammered for a minute before she set the boy down, stood up straight and said, "I'm leaving and you're not going to stop me."

I felt the heat building, my vision was tinted pink. "Really? Why's that?"

"You touched him again, didn't you."

It was an accusation, not a question.

"No," I said, and I hadn't.

"He's got bruises."

"He's a clumsy toddler. He probably fell again."

"Ed, don't lie to me," she spat, "I will not tolerate your lies anymore."

My vision turned a darker red. My nose flared to release some of the steam building up inside of me. One more pushed button and I was going to explode.

"Elizabeth," I warned.

"No, Ed, I've had it. We're leaving."

She reached down for Edward's chubby hand, took one step and I lost it. Last straw. Camel's back, broken. A wave of crimson flooded my eyes and I hauled off and hit her.

Liz fell over, landing on the boy, who looked up at me with HER eyes and cried silently. He was terrified and by the looks of it, finally figured out that wailing makes Daddy angrier.

I gave her a kick in the ribs, ordering her to get up. She cried out as I'm sure I must have broken a rib or two. "Where the hell do you think you're going to go? Huh? Who's going to take you in, you worthless piece of shit? Esme? Did you call big sister to bail you out again?"

She whimpered as she clung to Edward. I grabbed him and shoved him aside. He hit a table and went down with a thud like a sack of potatoes.

"EDWARD!" she screamed, as she watched him fall limply to the floor. When she turned back to look at me she yelled, "YOU MONSTER!"

I stood back and smiled at her. Deep down I knew this was wrong; that you don't beat the ones you love, but I couldn't stop. My vision was now an opaque blood red. I could barely see, but I knew my target.

Grabbing her by that beautiful silky bronze hair, I smashed her head into the floor a couple of times before punching her repeatedly in the abdomen, chest, head, face. I couldn't stop. I was crying at this point because I knew I'd just knocked the life out of the only person who had ever loved me. I saw the moment when her soul departed and that ever-present spark was extinguished in her eyes.

Liz's eyes.

"STOP STARING AT ME!" I screamed as I got up. "I'm sorry! I didn't mean to!"

My hands were covered with blood. I felt dirty. The red was dimming and yet all I could see was red, sticky, dark red blood. It covered me. I ran upstairs to the bathroom to shower. _So dirty. So bad. So wrong._

When I came back down I realized the magnitude of what I'd done. Edward, my son, our son, was kneeling in a pool of his mother's blood, crying and whispering for her to wake up.

"Wake, Momma; Dada mad. Peas, Momma. Wake."

He heard me coming down the stairs, looked up at me, froze for a moment before he threw himself on his mother's lifeless body, and said: "No more, Dada; Momma sleeping. Please, no more." It sounded more like _No moe, Dada; Momma seepin.' Peas, no moe._

Then it hit me. Not only had I just killed the woman I loved, the only person to ever show me compassion, but I killed the only person who loved that poor, bloody, little boy. Who would raise Edward?

I flashed back to when I was a kid, when social services had taken us out of our home and put us in foster care. Could I have just damned this child, this poor innocent, although mildly annoying, child to a life of abuse worse than he'd experienced at home?

A wave of nausea took over and I fell to the floor. I vomited a couple of times, then sat there staring at the wrath of my demon. Edward cried and trembled, probably afraid I'd hit him again. I smiled at him and motioned for him to come. He shook his head no. I did it again and said, "Please, Eddie, I won't hurt you. Dada promises."

Reluctantly he got up and limped over to me. I held my arms out to him for a hug and he resisted. I don't blame him, he probably only remembered that the only time I ever touched him was when I hurt him.

Eventually he approached me and crawled onto my lap. I held him tenderly, rocking him, trying to console him as a father should. It was a little late, but it seemed like the right time. He was sticky with blood and I couldn't tell if it was his or his mother's.

"Sh, Eddie, it's okay."

"Momma seepin'"

"Yes, son, Momma's sleeping."

"Dada made owie."

I sighed. "Yes, Dada made owie. He's so sorry."

He pointed to his head. "Eddie's head hurt."

I kissed the bloody gash on the back of his head. "I'm so, so, sorry, kiddo."

I started crying as the weight of my anger crashed down. I knew what I had to do. Edward needed to get away from his mother's corpse and I had to get out. I stood up with him in my arms and walked to his bedroom where I put him in his crib.

"Eddie, you need to have a nap, okay? When you wake up, Dada will be gone but hopefully Auntie Esme will come get you, okay?"

"Momma?" he cried out, his arms outstretched through the wood bars of his crib. "Momma!"

"It's okay, kiddo. It'll all be okay, soon."

I kissed the top of his bloody head and left. I stopped long enough to leave a note asking them to call Esme to get Edward. As much as I hated her, I knew she wouldn't let him down. I picked up the phone, called 911, told them where to find Liz and Edward and told them I'd be at the bar, behind the piano.

Prison wasn't so bad. I learned how to control the demon, or at least I thought I had. I went twenty years without striking another person. Liz was the last person I ever hit, until now.

When Edward called me not two weeks after our encounter at the bar I was shocked. I really hadn't held out any hope of hearing from him.

Why was it so important for me to see him? I wanted to apologize, I wanted to find out if he'd had a good life with the Cullens. No doubt he'd been spoiled rotten and while that drove me insane, I felt a little better, I mean, I did take his mother. He deserved a better life than the one I'd left him.

I should have known he'd have been poisoned against me. Esme hated me, there was never any doubt about that. He and I never had a chance at a clean slate, I knew that, but I had hoped that maybe he'd be above all that.

He was sitting at a table in Starbucks, nervously stirring his drink. I offered a handshake but the little prick refused to shake my hand; too good for his ex-con daddy, I guess. Strike number one.

Strike number two came when I called him _son_. His venom-laced words cut through me like shards of glass when he said I gave my right to call him that when I killed his mother. I suppose he's correct and has a right to be mad, but this blatant disrespect would not do. I did my time and I have to live with her eyes haunting me every day. I'm not proud of what I did, but it happened. Time to move on.

Strike three was when he accused me of raping his mother. How dare he? I never once raped Liz. I may have had to convince her to make love to me, but rape? Husbands don't rape their wives. Sex is a part of any healthy relationship. Rape happens when a person forces themselves on an unwilling stranger, Liz was mine and I had a right and a duty to have sex with her whenever I wanted.

Needless to say, I lost it. Before I could rein in the demon, i punched my son in the face. He stood there, chest puffed out in blatant arrogance; no doubt he learned that from the Cullens. He didn't pay the least bit attention to the blood running down his face.

He started making more accusations about how he knew I'd tried to kill him before he was born, how he'd read her diaries and he knew I was a monster.

_Monster._ No one had called me a monster since Liz had, and it hurt. So I punched him again.

A beautiful brown-haired girl ran toward us, screaming for me to stop. When Edward turned to tell her to stay back, I punched him again. Coward that I am, I sucker punched my son, dropping him to the ground. The girl ran to his side, yelling at me about _How could you?_ and all that. I lost it again.

I kicked her in the head. I didn't mean to hit her so hard, and when she went down, Edward turned back to look at me, hatred in his eyes, and said words I will never forget.

"Kicking another pregnant woman while she's down," he laughed bitterly. "Some things never change, DAD."

He was right. I am still a monster. I ran away as fast as I could before the demon really decided to make itself known.

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_**Hope Ed Sr.'s confusing brain didn't give you a headache.**_

_**Big love to everyone who is so involved in this story, who care enough to ask for more, who are patient when I take a little longer to get things up and running.**_

_**More outtakes to come in future days. Not necessarily Ed Sr.'s POV.  
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	2. It's A Girl!

**_SM owns Twilight. I own a new red Crackberry that I haven't quite figured out yet._**

_**I'm sorry for the delay between outtakes. Branded #9 damn near killed me. I wasn't able to write for days, in fact, it was so bad that I wasn't sure I was going to be able to write anything further from this story.**_

_**Then, Emmett started stomping around in my head, complaining that he's being ignored, overlooked, underappreciated and he felt it was his turn for the spotlight. So, as requested by MANDERZ, I now present to you,**_ **Road Maps Outtake #2 "IT'S A GIRL!"**

**WARNING! This is an Emmett and Rosalie-centric chapter so language is going to be far from pretty. If you are overly sensitive to F-bombs and other such blue words, I apologize now. **

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The countdown was on; baby in t-minus soon. Emmett was excited to meet his baby...baby whatever. As long as it came out healthy and Rose went back to her tough-as-nails-sexy-as-fuck self, he didn't care if it was a boy or a girl.

Part of him wanted a boy, in fact, he wanted an entire football team of boys, but the other side of him wanted a little girl; someone to dote on, spoil, and protect in all the ways he'd failed Bella.

Scrubbing the grime form under his fingernails left too much time for pondering and ruminating. He'd been having all kinds of strange thoughts, bizarre internal conversations, and panic attacks whenever he found himself at a sink or in the shower.

_Fatherhood is making me a freakin' pansy_, he thought as he turned off the faucet.

"Rosie, baby, what time does this frou-frou party start tomorrow?"

"The girls will be here in the morning to get ready and set up," she replied as she dug around in the closet. "Fuck, I haven't got anything to wear."

"I'm sure the Pixie will have something planned out. Wow," he gasped when he walked into the room. Rose stood before him dressed in a lacy bra and underpants, her breasts flowing over their confinements and the swell of her belly knocking the air out of his lungs. "Don't."

"Don't what?"

"Don't move."

Emmett moved up behind her and wrapped his arms around her. "Mmm...Rosie."

"Mmm what?" She slapped at his hands. "I'm fat and ugly; stop touching me."

"Mmm, you're not fat, you're full of baby—our baby. Come here, you."

Turning her around to face him, he smiled as he drank her in. He felt his pants tighten at the sight of her. Taking her hand, he led it down to his straining erection. "If you were ugly, do you think I'd be this hard for you?"

She gasped as he dragged her hand up and down his generous endowment. She tried to kneel in front of him, but he stopped her.

"What did I tell you?" he asked, his voice gruff.

"No pregnant wife of mine will ever go down on her knees in front of me."

He pulled her upright, raised her chin so she was looking at him, and claimed her lips in a passionate kiss. He sucked her bottom lip until she moaned.

"Em?"

"Yes?"

"I have to pee. Can you hold on?"

Emmett flopped back onto the bed and sighed. _Please hurry up, Bean. You're killing daddy's sex life and his balls are getting bluer every day.

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"Hey, Belly? Pixie? We're here!" he called out to his sisters. Rosalie had overslept and was running a little late. She wasn't feeling very well. He'd been tempted to cancel the whole shindig, but she insisted that the wrath of a doubly-scorned Pixie would be worse than sitting through a party with an upset stomach.

"Come on up, please," Bella called from upstairs.

Emmett gave them each a hug and grabbed the shopping list from Bella's hand. "I'll grab the stuff if you want. It'll give me something to do."

"Thanks, Emmy. I'm slower than hell and we're running behind. Are you sure you don't mind picking this stuff up?"

"No problem, Belly," he said, putting a hand on her protruding baby bump. "How's Peanut doing?"

"Peanut's been busy keeping me awake at night, but otherwise doing okay."

"Babe?" Rose said.

"What?"

"Can you get me one friend chicken breast?"

"Really?"

"Yes. Bean wants greasy chicken."

"I thought your stomach was upset?"

"I'll survive. Please? Chicken? For Bean?" Rosalie was standing in front of him, pouting and rubbing her belly. "Please?"

"Fine," he conceded. "Anything else?"

"Pepto Bismol."

"Got it. Belly, what time is Eddie coming back?"

"He and Jasper will be here at around 12:30. They're picking Esme up at the airport."

"Gotcha. I'll be back soon."

Emmett ran his errands and made it back in time to catch Edward, Jasper, and Esme's arrival. After giving her a big hug, he went up to check on Rose. He heard her crying and was about to barge in until he heard what they were talking about.

Rosalie sniffled as she spoke. "I'm just hormonal, that's all. I'm as big as your parents' house, I'm having a hard time getting around, there's a person kicking me in the kidneys, and I don't feel the least bit sexy anymore."

Bella spoke next. "I'm right there with you, sister. Seriously, though, you are one hot mama, Rosie. Em has been going on and on about how he'd love to keep you pregnant all the time because you're so beautiful."

He tensed up when he heard his beautiful Rosie cry in earnest. "He says that now, but will he still think that when I'm all saggy skin and boobs? When I no longer have time to get dolled up every day? I'm just waiting for him to get up one morning, tell me I'm disgusting, and leave me. He deserves someone hot. Not me."

_What? How could she think that? She's the sexiest woman on the planet. I love pregnant Rose! Shit, obviously I didn't tell her enough. Man, I suck. She shouldn't feel like that, ever._

The girls jumped when he walked into the room. He heard Edward and Jasper coming up behind him, so he signaled for them to stay back.

"I didn't mean to eavesdrop, but when I heard my Rosie crying, I was worried."

He walked over to the bed and sat at her feet. "Rosie, babe, you will never, ever, be anything less than perfect. You are the most beautiful woman in the world and you always will be. It hurts that you'd think otherwise; it makes me think I don't tell you enough how much I love you, how incredible you are."

Tears started working their way up and no matter how hard he tried to shove them back, he couldn't. Edward and Jasper stepped in and decided to ride on the crest of Emmett's sappy, emotional, tsunami.

_Fuck, I'm all full of Edward._

Rosalie, the incredible mind reader that she was, spoke his mind. "Well now, aren't we all a bunch of sappy saps. I blame you, Sapward; you've been sowing your sappy seeds again, haven't you?"

Esme saved them all from a total sob-fest when she walked in and made a comment about her babies crying, then sent the boys out to grab the luggage. After that, the women took charge, cracking their whips and reducing the men to slaves, which really, they didn't mind.

People started arriving just before two. Emmett had to laugh at the look on Bella's face when she met his newest employee, Adam. While it disturbed him to know that his baby sister had nicknamed her husband's pecker _Adam_, it was still a great source of hilarity, both amongst their gang and at work. Poor Adam had no idea why Emmett and Rose snickered and giggled around him, and Emmett prayed he'd never find out. He could just imagine the embarrassment of the poor fucker when/if he found out that people thought about Edward's cock when they saw him or heard his name.

He had to walk away when Rose took to giggling with Bella. Glancing quickly at his wife before he left the room, he noted she was still looking a little off. She kept telling him she was tired, and he wanted to believe her, but his Spidey-senses were tingling big time.

He joined Edward, who was talking to Jasper in a corner, trying to stay out of the road of the squealing women.

"Dude, I'm worried about Rosie."

"Why? What's up?"

"She's pale and tired-looking. Something's not right."

"I'll keep an eye on her, no worries, buddy."

Alice managed to gather the crowd between the living room and dining room. It was lucky there was a large double door between the two because there was no way everyone would have fit in one room. Emmett noticed how diverse the crowd was—family, friends, employees, some young, and some old. It was nice.

They participated in what he figured was the cruelest game he'd ever heard of. Whoever came up with the idea of having people guess how big a pregnant woman's belly was, was a nasty fool who'd never spent much time around pregnant women.

"Best get it right, brother, or you'll incur the wrath," he mumbled to Edward.

"Why's that?"

"She's really sensitive about her size. Underestimate if you have to, please."

"You just want to win; I'm onto you," Edward joked.

"I'm not playing the game; I value my nuts too much for that."

While everyone laughed and chatted to one another, he noticed that Rose was flinching every time someone held up their length of string. Her eyes were tearing up and her bottom lip began to tremble.

"I'd better go do damage control," he said to Edward and Jasper, excusing himself to go sit with his wife. Sitting beside her, he leaned in and whispered to her. "You're the hottest piece of ass in this place and they're trying to make you feel big because they're jealous. I love you, babe."

Rose smiled up at him before planting a quick kiss on his lips. Alice popped in and grabbed her away to continue with her cruel and sadistic game.

A while later they played a game Emmett could appreciate. Alice had the men put on blindfolds so they couldn't see what they were being fed. As soon as they figured it out, they were to shout it out.

All hell broke loose.

"Strained carrots!"

"Peas!"

"Banana!"

"Baby shit!"

"Emmett, language."

"Sorry, Esme."

"Peaches!"

"Applesauce!"

"Ow!"

Blindfolded or not, Emmett knew that voice; it was Rosie. He whipped off his blindfold. "Ow? Babe, are you okay?"

Rose held her belly and grimaced. "Yeah, just give me a second. Bean's boxing with my diaphragm."

Emmett wasn't buying it. He looked to Edward, who was making his way toward them. However, before he could get there, Rose shouted GAME ON and the chaos ensued.

Adam and his girlfriend Penny won the game amid a few snickers from the usual suspects. They were going to have to find a nickname for him or he was going to think they were all a bunch of psychotic asshats.

The girls took Rose to the bathroom with Emmett not far behind them. Something wasn't right and he was going to find out what was going on.

When he heard her mention contractions, he wanted to freak out, but he knew he couldn't. He needed to be strong for her. If he was scared, Lord knows she must have been terrified.

"Rose, is it time?" He asked.

"I...hee...hee...hee...hoooo...don't know," she panted.

_Deep breath, Emmett, keep your cool. Be strong for your woman._

"Let me grab Carlisle. I'll be right back."

"It's okay, Em. It passed. If it is labour, we've got time. The contractions are only 15-20 minutes apart. Let's finish the party; I'm dying to watch this next game. Help me up, okay? Please don't say anything."

He helped her up and nodded.

"Em, just in case, is the bag packed?"

"It's in the Jeep with the car seat."

She kissed him. "You're a great man, Emmett Swan. I love you."

"I love you too," he said, unable to keep the concern from settling on his face. "But promise me you won't hang on too long."

"I won't. You guys go out there. Bella and I will be out in a minute."

Reluctantly, he went back out to the party. Edward quirked an eyebrow at him, but Emmett just shrugged. Alice handed him a baby bottle and told him to suck it. Laughing, he jumped into the game and made an ass of himself trying to drain his bottle in a tight race with the other men at the party.

Everything seemed fine until he saw Bella rush to Rose's side. He could tell by her face that something was definitely up.

He arrived just as he heard her apologize for her water breaking on Edward's favourite chair.

_Water broke? Holy sheep shit, Batman, this shit was really happening._

"Edward," he bellowed. "It's go time!"

* * *

"Rosie, how you doin', babe?" Emmett asked as he watched her breathe through another contraction.

"I'm okay," she panted, "quit fussing over me."

"Can you speed this up, Eddie?"

Edward ground his teeth together. "I'll slow down if you don't stop calling me _Eddie_."

"For fuck's sake, man, my wife is back here trying not to squeeze a football-sized object out on your precious leather seats. Speed up!"

"Calm down, baby," Rosalie said, clearly past the last contraction.

"How many minutes now, Bella?" Edward asked as they pulled into the Emergency bay.

"Ten minutes, give or take."

"You're progressing quickly, Rose. Bean should be here in the next few hours, as long as you're dilating at a reasonable rate. Alright, let's get you in there."

The men helped Rosalie from the car and into the triage area.

"Dr. Cullen! What a surprise!"

"Hi, Eva, this is Rosalie Swan. She is in labour, as you can see. Her water broke approximately twenty minutes ago; her contractions are steady at around ten minutes apart. This is her husband, Emmett. He has their birth plan and can fill you in on the rest. I'll go park the car." He turned to Bella. "Are you okay?"

She nodded. "I'm fine. I'll wait here for you."

"The hell you will, Bella!" Rose cried out. "I need you with me!"

Edward leaned over, gave her a kiss, and told her he'd see her soon.

Poor Emmett was standing off to the side, pale, and looking nervous as he watched everything happening. Bella approached him and took his hand, effectively breaking the trance.

"Come on, it's time to go from being Big Brother Bear to Big Papa Bear. Let's get Rosie through this."

He allowed her to lead him as they followed the nurse pushing a panting Rosalie to Admitting.

* * *

Rosalie was being a real trooper. As soon as she'd been checked by the doctor, she asked if there was something she could do to help speed things up. The nurse came in with a giant ball and suggested that she might find some bouncing will both speed things up and make her feel a little better.

Bella had taken her spot at the helm, calmly talking Rose through the contractions, helping her balance on the ball. Emmett marveled at his sister's demeanour through it all and was thankful for it because he was feeling far from calm.

Pacing seemed to help ease his mind, and after driving the girls crazy, he was banished to the hallways, where he nervously walked back and forth.

He also found himself growling internally whenever Dr. Marcus came to check her. Baby or no baby, it always bothered him to see another man near her perfect cooch. That hairless wonder belonged to him, and him only.

Edward came up behind him and handed him a bottle of water. "Keep hydrated, bro. You're going to need it. Come on, let's sit."

"I don't think I can, Edward. I'm kinda freaking out here. My baby is having a baby—MY baby. I'm going to be a fucking dad, dude. ME! What the hell were we thinking?"

A loud cry and a string of profanities came from her room. Emmett's head shot up and his eyes grew huge.

"I did that to her, man. She's gonna tear off my balls."

"It'll be okay."

"You won't be saying that when it's Bella in there screaming," he said, standing to resume his pacing.

"You need to calm down, Emmy," a quiet voice said from behind him.

"Belly! How's Rosie?"

Bella gave him a hug, then pulled him down to eye level. "Rosie needs you now more than ever, but not like this. Edward," she said, looking at her husband. "Can you please go sit with her until I calm him down?"

"Sure."

Taking Emmett's hand, she led him to a bench. "Sit," she ordered.

He sat.

"Rosalie is in a lot of pain, she's scared shitless, and she needs you. She needs you to be strong, and focused. What did you learn at your birthing classes?"

Big sigh. "She needs to pull her strength from me. I need to be calm so she stays calm and the baby stays calm. If she yells at me it's not because she hates me, it's because she's in pain."

Rose cried out again.

"She needs me," he said, standing. "She needs ME. I need to go in and lead the team to victory, right?"

"It's the end of the fourth quarter, you're down by five points, there's twenty seconds left on the clock, and you're on the ten yard line. What do you do?"

"I protect my quarterback and receiver. I block the other team and I make sure that I'm there for my guys."

"Same deal, Brother Bear. No wonder you were an All-State MVP so many times. Now, go in there, get suited up, and get Rosie and Bean over the line into the end zone. Can you do it?"

"YEAH!" he shouted. A few nurses shook their heads disapprovingly in their direction.

"Okay, go in there and get 'em. On two. One...two..."

Emmett hugged her. "Doesn't mean I'm not still shitting my pants."

"As long as she doesn't know, it's okay."

"I love you, kiddo."

"You too."

Emmett charged into the room and found Rose in the middle of a particularly harsh contraction. Edward was counting and rubbing her back as she leaned on the ball. She looked up at him.

"It's about fucking time, Emmett Swan!" she yelled at him. "You knock me up, freak out like a pansy, and leave me to get through this with Sapward! Where have you been?" she looked back at Edward. "No offense, hon."

"None taken," he replied, smirking.

"Just, uh..."

"He was putting his game face on," Bella said, laughing.

"He'd better put his bathing suit on," she grunted. "It's getting close and I still want a water birth. I've been screaming and grunting and in a shitload of pain for the past three hours and I want this baby out of me!"

"Yes, dear," Emmett said, grabbing the duffle bag and heading to the bathroom to change.

Every single grunt, pant, whimper, and cry that left his soul mate's lips tore into him as if it was his own pain.

Edward took Bella to the vending machines to give her a break, leaving Emmett and Rose alone. He helped her up to the bed and crawled on behind her to rub her back. She was in a lot of pain, and was still refusing the epidural.

"They won't let me in the water if I have it."

"Babe, there's more important..."

"No, Emmett. This is what I want, this is what I choose. I'm a tough bitch and I can do this."

He hugged her and kissed her shoulder until the next contraction passed.

Dr. Marcus came in to check on her. "Well, Rosalie, we're almost ready to get you in the tub. The nurses are preparing it now. You are at ten centimetres and your cervix is almost completely effaced. Would you like to get up and walk over to the tub now?"

"Ugh," she grunted as the next contraction began. "EMMETT! GET BELLA! She screamed, clamping her hands down on his arm. "I want to get this baby out—NOW!"

"We're here, Rosie," Bella said, calmly. "Let me help you change. Excuse us, boys."

Bella pulled the curtain shut while she helped prep Rosalie.

"You're doing great, Em," Edward said, patting him on the back. "Just stay calm. She needs calm."

"Gotcha."

"I'm going to go out with the others; they're not letting me stay. Please keep an eye on Bella; she's looking tired."

"I'll try. Thanks, Edward. I hope I can help you when the tables are turned in a couple of months."

"Anytime, bro. Now go and help your wife push out your baby."

Emmett gave him a hug and turned back toward his wife, who was now waddling slowly toward him. Bella held one of her elbows to help, but he knew that if Rose had another ball-busting contraction, Bella wouldn't be strong enough to keep her up.

"Here, Belly, let me," he said, wrapping his big arm around Rose's waist.

"Emmett?" Rose panted quietly.

"Yeah, baby?"

"I'm scared."

"You're gonna do just fine. You've got me and Belly here to coach you through it. Let's go push Bean out."

Emmett sat in the tub first, so he could sit behind her. The nurses helped her get in while Bella took her position on the side. Rose let out a sigh of relief when she lowered her body into the warm water.

"Holy crap that feels...oh SHIT! Here's another..."

She let fly a long string of profanities as the pain intensified. Emmett rubbed her back through it and whispered things to her.

"I fucking love you so much, Rosie. You're my life. I'm so proud of you. You're so tough. You're doing awesome, babe."

Bella smiled at her big brother as she put a cold compress on Rosalie's forehead.

One of the nurses checked on Rosalie and declared that she could begin pushing as soon as Dr. Marcus arrived.

"Whether he's here or not, I'm pushing it out on the next one. I can't put up with much more."

"Hang in there, babe. You're doing great."

"You try pushing a watermelon out of your dick for two hours and tell me it doesn't fucking HURT! OW! OW! OW! Get it out! Please!"

Bella leaned over and said something to her and Rose calmed down. They began breathing through it together.

Emmett tried so hard to hold back his tears, but they wouldn't go away. Bella reached up and wiped them away.

"You are both doing great."

"I love you, Rosie."

"If you love me you'll get snipped and we'll never have to do this again."

Emmett's balls jerked in protest. "Can we discuss this later?"

Dr. Marcus arrived, donned some very big, long, shoulder-length gloves. "All right, Rosalie, let's get this baby out."

The rest was a big blur of screaming, profanities, crying, and Bella trying to talk the two of them through it.

At one point, Dr. Marcus mentioned something about getting her out of the tub and using a vacuum, which confused the hell out of Emmett.

"No, please let me do this, Dr. Marcus," Rose begged. "I can do it."

"We'll give you a few more contractions, but we might need to intervene, the baby's heartbeat is becoming erratic."

"I'm squeezing it out—NOW!" she screamed.

Emmett pulled back on her right knee while Bella pulled back on the left. Rose huffed and puffed.

"We have a head," Dr. Marcus proclaimed.

When she tried to see, but wasn't able to angle herself properly, Rose began to cry. Exhaustion, and pain were making her emotional.

"Why can't I see?"

A nurse appeared with a mirror and set it up so Rose and Emmett could watch the birth.

"Okay, let's get those shoulders out. If I tell you to push, you push with all your might. If I tell you to stop, you need to stop immediately, got it?"

"Y...yes...oh, Em! Look at the head! It's our baby!"

Emmett was too overcome to reply. He just kissed her shoulder and got ready to help her push again.

"Okay, let's go. PUSH!" Dr. Marcus said.

"OW! FUCK! OW! OW!"

"What's happening?" Emmett asked.

"Passing the shoulders is the hardest part. Stop pushing, Rose. I need to unwrap the cord from the baby's neck."

Emmett's heart leapt when he looked into the mirror. The baby, their baby, was now facing him; its face all scrunched up.

"Rosie, baby, look..."

"Oh my God!" she wailed. "It's real, isn't it?" She reached down to touch the head. "Oh God, it's really real."

"Alright, Rosalie, I think a couple more pushes should be good. Start when you're ready."

Rose pulled back her legs until Emmett and Bella held them and she pushed with all her might. She placed her hands on the baby so she could feel more connected. With one last push, out popped the baby and before anyone knew what was happening, a light-haired baby was placed in her chest.

"It's a girl!"

Emmett began to sob as he hugged Rosalie. Bella cried quietly, and Rose began rubbing the wet baby's back with the nurses as they stimulated her to cry.

"You're here. You're really here!"

"I have a baby girl?" Emmett said as he touched her for the first time.

"Oh, Lily, you are one beautiful little pain in the cooch," Rosalie cooed at her quietly.

Lily let out a weak, wet mew, like a kitten. A nurse suctioned fluid from her nose, then ran a tiny tube down her throat to clear out any other fluids that might have accumulated.

"We need to take her and clean her up. She won't be far," a nurse said as she took the baby from Rose.

Emmett hugged Rose again and cried as the doctor finished by delivering the placenta. As soon as they were sure she was okay to be moved, they helped Rose from the tub and whisked her off to the bed where they dried her off and re-checked her.

When he got out of the tub, a nurse handed a tiny bundle over to him. "She wants her Daddy."

Emmett looked down at his baby girl. Little Bean had a face, a name, and was finally safe in his arms. He sat on a chair and cried.

"Baby girl, I'm your daddy. You're the most incredible little girl in the world and I promise to protect you from all the things that go bump in the night, even if they are only things that go squeak. I love you so much and I'm going to spoil you rotten."

He looked up to see the other two most important women in his life, both crying as they watched him.

"Do the others know?" he asked quietly, so as not to startle his daughter.

"Not yet, I wanted you to tell them," Bella said.

"I think it's time they do. Here, she needs her Momma. I'm going to go tell them." He bent over and kissed them both. "I love you, Lily. I love you, Rose. Thank you."

"For what?"

"For making me the luckiest fucker in the world."

"Language, Emmett," she joked weakly. "No more F-bombs in front of your daughter."

He paused for a moment to drink in the scene before heading out. He all but ran down the hall, totally forgetting that he was still in his bathing suit.

"SHE'S FUCKING HERE!"

* * *

_**I really want to thank everyone who sent me encouraging PMs and reviews after Outtake #9. I'm sorry I fell apart, I'm sorry I traumatized so many of you, but I can't regret posting it. It is the harsh reality of what happened to Bella, and I think perhaps it's given a lot of you more insight into what happened and why Bella was as messed up as she was. The love I received was well beyond what I ever dreamed of, and I can't thank you enough. I am blessed to have a wonderful group of readers. Bizous, mes belles!  
**_

_**I'm not sure when I'll be posting another outtake. Katmom and I are going to work on the correspondence between Esme and Renee as a collaborative effort, but other than that, I'm not sure what's next. **_

**FYI**, I am a judge in the upcoming **Mystic Awards**, so come on over and nominate your favourite stories (sadly, mine don't qualify), then come and vote! I'm going to be busy reading fanfic for the next while, so I might not have a lot of time to write it. **www(DOT)themysticawards(DOT)webs(DOT)com/ **

- nominating will be held from 12th of September to September 26  
- voting will be from 29th of September to 9th of October  
- winners will be announced on 11th of October


	3. SOS

_**SM owns Twilight, I own...well, in the grand scheme of things, not nearly as much as she does. I like to borrow her stuff and play puppet master. **_

_**This outtake was requested by **_**InvisibleGirl009_ who really shouldn't stay invisible. She wanted to know what happened when Emmett got the strange phone call at Jasper's graduation party, what was his reaction, what was happening while Bella was fighting off Mike._**

**_So, I present to you, another Emmett-centric outtake for all of you Big Brother Bear lovers. :) _Road Maps Outtake #3 ****S.O.S

* * *

**

_Graduations have to be __the__ most annoying things __ever_. _Blah, insert big word, blah, insert another big word, freakin' blah. If it wasn't Jazzy's big day and I didn't owe Rosie big time, I'd be home with my feet propped up in front of the TV with a beer in my hand. But no, I'm in New York freakin' City listening to a bunch of academic hoity-toities spouting off inspirational hot air. Don't get me wrong, I'm no stupid idiot--I graduated from Dartmouth with honours, but I don't care enough about the shit they're spouting off about to really want to pay attention.  
_

_The only good thing about these events is the free food and booze, of which I am totally taking advantage. With Rosie up the spout, she's the DD by default. Booze it up, Emmy-boy, booze'r up._

Emmett leaned against a wall trying to blend in, which was damn near impossible. Watching Rosalie mingling with Bella and her family made him smile. _My wife is one hot effin' Mama,_ he thought as he walked over to her.

Jasper approached them and introduced some generic blond guy to them. "Guys, this is Mike. He's been in my program since the get-go. Mike, these are my folks, my sister Rose, her husband Emmett, my sister-in-law Bella, my wife Alice, whom you've already met a million times, and her parents Carlisle and Esme."

"It's a pleasure to meet you all," he said, acknowledging each one with a handshake and a smile.

A shiver ran up Emmett's back when Mike got to Bella and he raised her hand to kiss it. "Enchantez, Bella," he said, "I hear you just matriculated yourself."

Emmett cringed—never in a million years did he think he'd hear someone make the word _matriculate_ sound so fucking dirty. He needed to intervene. "Uh, Bella, sister o' mine, can you come help me with something?"

The look on her face spoke volumes. "Uh, Mike, I have to go. It was, uh, nice to meet you." She tried to pull her hand back and met some resistance. She tried again and was successful when she pulled hard enough to make Mike sway; seems he was a little too drunk to hold his ground.

_No he didn't,_ Emmett thought as he watched the scene unfold. He pulled Bella to his side protectively, leading her away from the drunken douchewad.

"Thanks, Emmy," she said, exhaling loudly. "I didn't think he was ever going to let go. What a creep!"

"I'll keep an eye on him for you."

"I'd like that."

"Let's go grab more booze and grub," he said, leading her toward the buffet.

"Alice really outdid herself this time. I think party planning should have been her major, not fashion design."

"Pixie's got a gift, no doubt about that."

They huddled over by the buffet until Bella mentioned that she was feeling a little claustrophobic.

"I'm going to the bathroom, Em. Cover me," she joked.

"I got your back, Special Agent Swan."

Bella made him laugh by doing her best Charlie's Angel pose before heading off.

Carlisle and Esme beckoned him to come talk, so he staggered in their general direction. He was just telling them about poor Bella's strange Mike encounter, when his phone vibrated in his pocket. He flipped it open and saw _Belly_ on the display.

"Hey, Belly, what's up? Miss me already?"

A muffled sound came through the earpiece. "Belly?"

His stomach dropped into his balls and all traces of alcohol evaporated from his system when through the static he could hear a few words.

"You...want..." an unfamiliar male voice said.

The next five words were clear enough to make him grab Carlisle and Jasper and run.

"I DO NOT WANT THIS!" he'd heard her shout.

"BATHROOM! NOW!" he yelled.

Emmett continued to try to hear what was happening but mostly all he heard was Bella shouting _NO!_ and _HELP!_ He thought he'd head a slap and he prayed she'd managed to hit whoever was in there with her.

Rosalie joined them. "Stay back, babe," Emmett said, "I don't need you and the baby getting hurt."

"Okay," she said, standing back with Alice.

The men pounded on the door and yelled for Bella. When they received no response, Emmett kicked the door open and found Bella crawling across the floor crying while DoucheMike was curled up in the fetal position cupping his balls. _Atta girl, Belly, way to fight._

Bella curled up in a ball and began to rock back and forth. Seeing this sent Emmett back six years and instead of seeing Mike writhing on the floor, he saw James. He swore no one would ever hurt her again and someone had. Somebody had to pay.

His first priority was that his sister was in good hands, and he was happy to see Rose was comforting her. As he turned back to the moron on the floor, he saw red, and unleashed his fury. Jasper had to hold him back to prevent him from killing Mike.

"Dude, you've done enough. Let's get Bella out of here."

Emmett relaxed until Jasper loosened his grip and he bolted again, managing to get in one last kick before Carlisle ordered him to stop.

"Bella needs you, son, and you can't help her if you're in jail. We need to get her out of here; can you help Rosalie get her to the car?"

He nodded, knelt beside his baby sister, and picked her up. She wrapped her shaking arms tightly around his thick neck and sobbed as Alice led them out a service door so no one would stare at them. He buckled her into the Jeep, gave her a kiss and a promise to see her soon. He walked around to the driver's side to give Rose a kiss. "I'll be there soon, babe. Take care of her, okay? Call me if you need me."

Esme found him by the service door and placed a calm hand on his shaking arm. "How is she?"

"I don't know; she's pretty upset," he said, before sliding down the wall and putting his head in his hands. "Why do people keep hurting her, Esme? She's never done anything to anyone; why do they insist on trying to break her?"

Squatting down to sit beside her hulking adopted son, she threw an arm around his shoulder and squeezed. "I wish I knew, sweetie, I really wish I had an answer. She'll be okay; I don't think he physically hurt her too badly."

"It's not the physical part that I worry about; she's tough as nails. I just worry that one of these days someone is truly going to destroy her and we'll lose her."

"Have faith, Emmett. She's been through worse."

He banged his head on the wall. "I shouldn't have let her go by herself; I saw him hitting on her, I should have known!"

Emmett felt small hands on his face as Esme crouched in front of him and cradled his head. "You can't watch her 24/7; she's a grown woman now, she needs to find her independence. She's lucky to have you and Edward protecting her, but she needs to be okay on her own," she put a finger over his mouth to stop the flow of protests about to spill from his lips, "even if it means she gets scared or banged up a little. I'm not saying that it's good he attacked her—in fact, if given a chance, I'd castrate him with a rusty butter knife, but something like this can serve to make her stronger, and by the looks of Mike writhing on the ground, she handled herself just fine."

"Or break her."

"Oh, Emmett, she'll be fine in a while. Stop beating yourself up over this; it happened, it's over, now let's go find the others."

The police had arrived and were dragging Mike away. Emmett fought back the urge to kick him again; instead, he walked over to Alice and Jasper. She was crying while he tried to comfort her. He knelt in front of her and held out his arms. "C'mere, Pixie."

Alice flung herself into her arms and hugged him.

"Shh, don't cry. Bella's fine."

"It's...it's all my fault."

"How's that? Did you make Mike do it?"

"No," she sniffled.

"Then it's not your fault."

"It's my party."

"Big deal, sis. Cheer up. It's Jasper's day, let's put our party faces back on and get this shit done so we can go back to Bella. Can you do that?"

She nodded tearfully.

"That's my girl. Why don't you and Esme go get those raccoon eyes cleaned up," he said, wiping away a smudge mark on her cheek. He smiled warmly at her and gave her a squeeze.

"Thanks, Emmett," she said, hugging him back.

"Anytime."

He kissed the top of her head and sent her off to the bathroom with her mother.

Jasper fist bumped him. "Thanks, man. I thought I was starting to lose my touch—I just couldn't get her to calm down."

"It's all good, buddy. Sometimes the women just need a teddy bear to hug to feel better."

"Is Bella really okay?"

"I hope so."

Rosalie met them in the living room when they got back to the loft. Alice ran over to her. "Is she okay? I'll never forgive myself if that douchebag hurt her."

"She's bruised, scared, and upset. I figure someone is going to have to stay nearby; the nightmares are bound to start soon."

Turning to Emmett, she looked at him lovingly. "Emmett, honey, we're leaving in the morning. We're going to drive Bella home; she's in no shape to be flying. Also, DO NOT breathe a word of this to Edward; she wants to wait until she gets home. There's no need to set him off when she's pretty much okay. Are we agreed?"

Everyone nodded in agreement.

A blood-curdling scream set Emmett off, jumping headfirst into Big Brother Bear mode as he ran to the guest room. It was like some sick déjà vu: Bella was thrashing and screaming in the bed. He sat beside her and pulled her into his arms. "Easy, Belly, it's okay."

Bella was so deeply asleep that she didn't wake up when he held her. He rocked her and hummed the old lullabies his mother used to sing to them when they were kids. She calmed down within minutes, her breathing slowing to a normal sleep rate, her heart no longer racing against his chest.

Rose popped her head around the corner a few minutes later to check on them. "Is she okay?"

"Yeah," he whispered, "she'll be okay. Rosie, sweetie, would you mind if I stayed here with her tonight?"

"Everyone's camping out her in the living room. Alice just went out to find a 24-hour Walmart to pick up some air mattresses. I'll go pack up the stuff at the hotel, say bye to Mom and Dad, and check out. I'll come back and sleep here with the others so we can leave first thing." She walked over to the edge of the bed and placed a kiss on her husband's forehead. "I've never met a family quite like this one."

"They're pretty awesome, aren't they?"

He looked down at his sister, ran his fingers through her damp hair, and sighed. "I thought this would have ended when James was killed. I never expected to be cradling my adult sister and rocking away the monsters.

"That Mike bastard is lucky I didn't go postal on him. If Carlisle and Jasper hadn't stopped me—I could have killed him with my bare hands."

Emmett looked up at his wife, his eyes radiating pain and sadness. "My god, Rosie, why Bella? Why does this keep happening to her?"

"She was wondering the same thing. I wish I had an answer."

Rose grabbed a quilt from the closet and covered Emmett. "Get some sleep, baby. We have a long drive ahead of us."

"It's only six hours, I'll be fine. You, however, are sleeping for two. Get that hot little ass of yours down to get some rest. Oh, could you get someone to bring me a sandwich?"

Rose kissed his lips and promised to send up a snack.

"I love you, Rosie."

"Ditto, big guy."

Emmett awoke a couple of hours later to find Bella sleeping peacefully and her phone by her ear. He picked it up to put it away but he heard someone on the other end.

"Edward? Why are you humming on my sister's phone?"

"Emmett? Is she asleep?"

He yawned. "Yeah, she is. Is she okay?"

"No Em, and she won't tell me why? Can you please shed some light on what the fuck is going on there? Why was my fiancée sobbing? Why are you coming home early?"

"Calm down, little brother. If she didn't tell you, I sure as hell won't either. I need to go before she wakes up."

Edward sighed sadly. "Em, please, is Bella okay?"

"She will be, brother. We'll see you tomorrow."

"Drive safe."

"Always. I've got the three most precious people in the world with me. Now let me get some sleep so I don't fall asleep at the wheel tomorrow."

He flipped the phone shut, put it on the bedside table and curled up with his baby sister to hopefully protect her from the horrors that haunted her dreams. Surely, if he couldn't protect her tonight at the party, he could try to protect her while she slept.

"Sleep well, Belly baby. I'm sorry. I love you."

* * *

_**I don't think I could ever get tired of writing from Emmett's POV. Perhaps my next fanfic will be an Emmett one (if i write another one).**_

_**Please keep the reviews coming. They make me smile.**_

**_Oh yeah, don't forget about The Mystic Awards! _Come on over and nominate your favourite stories (sadly, mine don't qualify), then come and vote! I'm going to be busy reading fanfic for the next while, so I might not have a lot of time to write it. **_www(DOT)themysticawards(DOT)webs(DOT)com/ _

**- nominating will be held from 12th of September to September 26  
- voting will be from 29th of September to 9th of October  
- winners will be announced on 11th of October**


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